What happened to King David's sons?

Answer 1

Amnon is introduced as David's oldest son and half-brother to Absalom, but he was soon killed and so played no further role. In a long diversion (2 Samuel 13‑19), Absalom, who was David's favourite son, was a key participant in two episodes that form this narrative, yet played no part in the narrative prior to these chapters.

The first episode involves the rape of Tamar, by her half-brother, Amnon. This is a strange tale and seems to be based on much older traditions, possibly of religious origin. When Amnon was preparing to rape Tamar, she objected that he would bring shame on her, but that if he would speak to the king, David would not withhold her from him. This was the rule in Egypt, where a king would encourage a marriage between his son and daughter, suggesting an Egyptian origin for the story. Here, his half-brother Absalom bided his time and killed Amnon in revenge.

Absalom's only likely competitor as successor to David was Amnon, who had died at Absalom's hand after the rape of Tamar. So Absalom served David forty years, then decided to launch a coup against his father (2 Samuel 15:7), perhaps not quite an accurate claim as David's entire reign only lasted 40 years and 7 months.

The narrative of 2 Samuel 13-19 tells the story of David's love for Absalom. David was unwilling to fight Absalom, choosing instead to flee the city (2 Samuel 15:13-14). Then, when a battle was unavoidable, David commanded his officers to 'deal gently' with Absalom. When the messengers came to tell David of their victory over Absalom, his first concern was whether Absalom was safe. David mourned for Absalom much more than his firstborn son Amnon, who was killed by Absalom's men and at Absalom's command.

2 Samuel 14:27 reports Absalom as having three sons and one daughter, Tamar, but in total contradiction, 2 Samuel 18:18 says that Absalom raised an obelisk in the king's dale, or valley of the kings, saying that he had no sons. If the Hebrew legend of Absalom is as old as the time of the United Kingdom, the obelisk in the king's dale points to its origins in other nations, since David was only the second king of Israel and there could not yet have been a 'valley of the kings' in the land.

For such a much-loved king, David seems to have suffered a lot of attempted coups. After Absalom's attempted coup came the uprising by Sheba, a Benjamite, then, while David was in failing health, another apparent coup plan by David's heir apparent Adonajah (1 Kings 1:5). With a little intrigue, Solomon was finally anointed as the new king.

The Deuteronomic history and the Book of Chronicles are in almost complete dispute on the events leading up to Solomon's succession to the throne. Chronicles omits the lengthy diversion about the rape of Tamar, Absalom, the attempted coups and the Sheba uprising. More particularly, while still in apparent good health and not yet bed-ridden, David announced to the people of Israel that Yahweh had chosen Solomon to be his heir. In the face of this public declaration, Adonijah could hardly have attempted to pre-empt the outcome by having himself declared king.